AHMEDABAD: With potato prices ruling at Rs 20 a kg in retail in the domestic market, traders from Jammu and Kashmir have started importing potato from the two Line of Control (LOC) trade posts of Srinagar and Poonch. With zero import duty on import at the LOC trade points, Pakistani potato is cheaper than the Indian variety by 20% to 40%. India's potato production is expected to be 33.5-34 million tonne...

-The Financial Express After plummeting to a record low two months back, the retail price of potatoes has risen sharply due to lower supplies. The prices have been rising mainly due to expectations of a lower rabi output in the key producing states of Uttar Pradesh and West bengal. Traders at Delhi’s Azadpur market say potato prices have risen in the last two weeks because of lower supplies from UP, West bengal and...

Here’s a “growth story” that Standard and Poor’s missed: a piece of official statistics shows good old India has grown — literally. Over 5,000sqkm of wasteland has been converted into “net” usable terrain between 2005 and 2008, according to the Wasteland Atlas of India that was released today. Even Bengal, pilloried for profligacy and other wasteful pastimes, has done its modest bit to transform wasteland. But the big battles against barren land...

But non-farm income keeps economy afloat   New Delhi, April 25: The rural growth story is slowly losing sheen because of inflation and rising input costs. In fact, rural price level is higher than urban price level. The March Consumer Price Index number for rural India stood at 116.3, while that for urban India stood at 114.6. Mr Ajay Sriram, Chairman and Senior Managing Director, DCM Sriram Consolidated Ltd, says the rural growth...

West bengal Chief Minister sought refinancing for 18,000-km PMGSY roads Aggravating the face-off between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has shot down West bengal's demand for financing anew 18,000 km ofmurram (red sand) roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The West bengal Road Department Secretary demanded at a meeting that the Ministry refinance the entire murram roads in the State, charging that these...